April 15, 2000

Focus on presidential campaign of Ralph Nader, nation's foremost anti-corporate crusader who is running again as third party candidate, but on Green Party line; he insists current drive is serious, compared with 1996, when he refused to raise money, spent less than $5,000 and attracted barely 1 percent of vote; goal of current campaign is not to win, but to get more than 5 percent of vote to qualify for millions in federal campaign matching funds he says he would use to build Green Party; photo (M)

Pres-elect Vladimir V Putin, in first initiative as Russia's elected president, wins approval of long-delayed Start II nuclear arms reduction treaty, which calls for cutting of American and Russian arsenals by half; 228-131 approval by lower house reflects more centrist makeup of new Parliament and diminished influence of Communist bloc, which opposed treaty; passage is seen as sign that Putin is seeking more constructive relationship with West, but also that he intends to resist US program to develop and deploy antimissile defenses; he warns Russia's willingness to carry out treaty depends on Washington's continued adherence to 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which sharply restricts testing and deployment of antimissile systems; pact is strongly supported by Russian military, which lacks resources to support huge nuclear arsenal developed by former Soviet Union; Parliament's move is welcomed by Clinton administration; Pres Clinton calls it giant step toward safer future; says both countries should seize opportunity to intensify discussions on Start III and ABM treaty; photos (M)

House and Senate leaders reach broad agreement on bill to give African and Caribbean countries wide-ranging trade benefits to help flagging economies by opening new markets: agreement comes after Speaker J Dennis Hastert and majority leader Sen Trent Lott personally intervened to resolve deadlock, but many details remain unsettled; bill would reduce or eliminate tariffs and quotas on wide range of goods; supporters voice confidence over final approval; Pres Clinton calls it win-win proposition for US, Africa and Caribbean Basin; some of its provisions noted (M)

Frenzy of Selling in Stocks Caps a Disastrous Week Investors turned away from stocks in a sharp wave of selling that closed one of the worst weeks in the history of United States markets. The catalyst was a Department of Labor report showing that core consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in March, more than economists had predicted.

John Tierney column notes that State Assemblyman John Brian Murphy sued New York City for $10 million after he slipped on patch of ice in Inwood Hill Park and broke his right wrist, but jury ruled that he failed to exercise due caution and awarded him nothing (M)